McIntyre: Celtic form not a factor

06 February 2010 01:27

Celtic have suffered defeats to Hibernian and Kilmarnock in the previous two weeks to leave them 10 points adrift of SPL Rangers.

While Celtic will never write off their title chances, especially with Robbie Keane in their ranks, Tony Mowbray's best chance of silverware in his first season now lies with the cup.

That puts even more pressure on Celtic ahead of their fifth-round clash at East End Park against the Irn-Bru First Division side, who lost to Celtic in two of the previous six finals in the competition.

But McIntyre said: "I am not concerning myself about what happened at Kilmarnock or the previous week against Hibs. This is a different game all together.

"We will need to be right at it and take the game to them from the start.

"Celtic are favourites and rightly so but it's the type of game you want to be tested in and involved.

"It's great for the players to come up against the star quality they have.

"We will look to take the game to them and hope it's good enough on the day.

"We will need a slice of luck, you always do when you are playing against the Old Firm."

Out of the team that lost the 2007 final 1-0 to Celtic seven days after being relegated, only Scott Muirhead remains in the Dunfermline squad.

However, they have other former SPL players such as Stephen Glass, Andy Kirk and Willie Gibson, and young players hungry to prove they can compete with Scotland's top clubs.

"It's a chance for the players to show they can handle playing at that level and that they are good players at that level," McIntyre said.